College Days
by Ghostwulf0313
Summary: Title will change I just couldn't come up with anything at the moment. I intend for this to be a multi chapter College AU. Rachel is 18 in this AU graduated from high school and about to have her fresh start on life.
1. Chapter 1

***September***

Finally it was Sunday after a week everything was set up in Rachel Gardner's new a home. A shabby apartment on the more shady side of town. It wasn't her preference but it was all she could afford. At least it was near her job at the Little Corner Cafe and the community college she would begin attending tomorrow was within walking distance. She just had all the basics for furniture, for the most part her abode was fairly plain and undecorated. Maybe some fake flowers here and there as well as some curtains and cushions she had sewn herself.

It was a new start for her one that she welcomed. Her prior life hadn't been a happy one. At least now she wouldn't have to be the subject of everyone's gossip whenever she walked by. Her old home was six hours away. There was no one here to give their unwanted pity. Most people had suspected her abuse and done nothing about it. After all her dad had been a cop, what could they have done?

Horrible as it was and though she understood abuse was not _normal_ it'd become normal for her. It had been pounded into her that it was her own doing. She had no one to blame but herself. That would change now though. She still felt she was a pitiful excuse of a human being. She was beyond broken but she would try to live the best she could.

She was still empty...often emotionless. Now and then she might feel something but it was rare for anything to breach the walls she kept firm around her heart. People would often whisper things about her when they thought she was out of earshot. Usually it was a comment about how dead she looked. Like a ghost. The whispers and pitying escalated over the summer after...well after _it_ had happened.

Though to be honest Rachel didn't care about the whispers all that much. It was annoying more than anything. She didn't need or want their pity and fake attempts to be nice to her. All she ever really had was her books, sewing, school and more recently baking. Far as she was concerned it's all she needed. Even if she hadn't really had any friends; it was enough. All she could do now was try to move ahead. Keep going as she always has.

Ray kept her near lifeless cerulean eyes closed; sighing as she laid across her cream colored sofa in the living room. Her long honey colored locks draped over the armrest like a flowing curtain.

It had been a long day, work had been rough. Seemed like every other customer had something wrong with their food. Of course they took it out on her. Not like it was really her fault; she hadn't been the cook that day. Her emotionless face only seeming to piss them off more. As if she could help her face. Her boss kept saying she needed to smile more but she just wasn't good at that. She never had been for as long as she could remember. Her parents didn't like it when she smiled.

To top it off her neighbor seemed to be having a fit in the apartment next to hers. She could hear them smashing who knows what. Whatever it was they seemed to be enjoying themselves every now and then she could hear laughter through the walls. Perhaps sliding a polite note under their door would help but Rachel really didn't want to start anything. Especially considering she wasn't living in the safest location and she still hadn't even met them even after a week of living there.

At least her bedroom was furthest away from the racket going on next store. Did they not realize how loud they were? There wasn't even anyone across or on the floor directly below them either as far as she knew. Which meant there wasn't anyone else around to complain about it. Perhaps they didn't know they had a neighbor now. She sighed.

 _How annoying. What in the world are they doing over there?_

Tired and irritable Rachel lazily removed herself from the love seat; showered and made her way to her queen size bed. She wanted to be well rested for the following day. At least try to be. Ray snuggled into her new baby blue blanket and hugged her body pillow.

She hoped it would be a good night's sleep for once. Those days she tended to not get much shut eye due to being plagued by had lessened over the past few weeks from being every night to every couple nights. Maybe it wasn't entirely correct to say "nightmares" after all it was always the same one; never changing...

 _Schlunk...schlunk….schlunk…_

 _What was that sound? Ray crept down the stairs. She had been in her room with her headphones on as she took her usual position on her bed; nose buried in a mystery novel. Things could get pretty loud at her house. It was hard to concentrate through the screaming and breaking of glass and china without something to wash out the worst of the pandemonium._

 _Even with her music blocking out most sounds she was sure she had heard a scream. Not that screaming and yelling was uncommon in this household. But this one was different…something was definitely wrong…_

 _Schlunk...schlunk...schlunk…_

 _The potent scent of iron permeated her nostrils. A slight splash emitted from her shoe upon reaching the bottom of the stairs stopping her dead in her tracks._

 _Rachel's ocean blue eyes widened. There was blood on the flood...it trailed all the way to the kitchen._

 _Ba-boom.. Ba-boom..ba-boom.._

 _Her heart hammered in her ears along with that other unknown sound emitting from the kitchen._

 _Schlunk...schlunk...schlunk_

 _Get out now! Leave! You don't want to see what's in there!_

 _She ignored the voices screaming in her head; trying to trigger her fight or flight instincts. In this case flight being the stronger of the two. The kitchen door was slightly cracked._

 _Schlunk...schlunk...schlunk...schlunk_

 _Everything was blurred and mutated a blood red haze clouding her mind._

Ray's eyes shot open. Her heavy breathing was accompanied by a rapidly beating heart. The air from the fan felt cooler than usual and she knew she was drenched in sweat...yet again. The young woman rubbed her weary eyes. One pale hand reached over to the white nightstand beside her bed, bringing the glow of a cell phone to her face. 5:43AM.

At least she'd survived most of the night this time; even if the sleep quality hadn't been the best. Truthfully she hadn't slept well since the incident. The therapy she had been forced to take hadn't seemed to do much for her either. It was too late for Rachel. If she was broken before everything had happened...she was without a doubt broken beyond repair now. Nothing would be able to change that. She had accepted this to be how it was for her. Her life would remain empty and she would be forever broken. Suicide had crossed her mind more than a few times. She couldn't even do that though. Her parents had hammered into her head that it was a sin in god's eyes. She would never be forgiven if she took her own life.

The young blonde woman arrived 15 minutes early to her first class of the day at 8:15AM. Having taken the time to map out the place the week beforehand had really come in handy she had no issues navigating her way around the campus. At least it was just English so she shouldn't require too much brain power.

English was a strong subject for her. Then again she excelled at generally all school subjects. Rachel was very book smart and had graduated with a very good GPA. She could have gone to a more expensive school for sure, she just hadn't seen the need. There was no place for her to go back to during holidays or when school was out; so she might as well get in a place where she can live for an extended period of time.

"RACHEL! I didn't know you had applied here too!"

Rachel's expression showed no signs of her slight annoyance when she spotted the source of the voice. A boy slightly older than her with green eyes and red hair. He always seemed so cheery very much the opposite of herself.

"Hello, Eddie." her response was met with a beaming smile.

Eddie excitedly motioned for her to sit with him and that blonde girl she recognized from high school. She never could remember her name as she had only seen her around Eddie but not shared any classes together. Eddie was always friendly though. Didn't really make sense to her why the boy had always been so eager to talk to her. Most people just thought she was dull. They probably weren't wrong either. Not wanting to cause a scene Rachel complied reluctantly.

It wasn't really his fault she was annoyed to be honest. She didn't hate Eddie he was one of the few people who had been kind to her. She had just been looking forward to being in a place where she could forget her old life. At least he never brought it up. Though she could still see the pity behind his emerald stare. His friend greeted her with a smile which Ray tried to return.

To her relief he kept most of his attention on said no name girl. She figured they must be really close or maybe even dating. Though to her annoyance she could feel him stealing glances at her far more often than she liked. He'd always stare at her when she was walking down the hall. Perhaps he had a crush on her? Either way it didn't matter to Rachel. She would never feel that way towards him. The idea of having feelings for anyone was a very foreign idea for her. Ray pulled out a book flipping through the pages absentmindedly hoping to deter anyone from attempting a conversation with her.

I mean sure she had read many romance novels and enjoyed the stories within them. She was just certain that such things would never be meant for her. Afterall how could she feel love if she hardly felt anything else? Ray didn't know love aside from what she had seen in the movies or read in a book. Love was not and never would be meant for a person like her...

To her relief she hadn't seen any familiar faces in her second and last class of the day. It was now 11:00 AM and she had the rest of the day to herself. Already she had a paper and a decent amount of homework from math class that she needed to do. They really meant business in college. She didn't mind since it would give her something to do and an excuse to head to her favorite place.

"Hey! How's it goin' new girl? Thought you were off today?" The barista on the other side of the counter recognized Rachel immediately. Though he still didn't seem to remember her name. Not that she cared. She would have forgotten his name was Tim had he not had his name badge on.

"I'm off today. Just a hazelnut latte please." As usual she was straight to the point. No reason to make idle conversation.

"You got it new girl." Tim pushed his thick glasses up his nose before turning his back to make her drink. She was tempted to remind him of her real name but decided it wasn't worth the effort.

Ray merely nodded her thanks paid for her drink, readjusted her black backpack and headed across the street for the public library. She always felt at peace here. The library was the perfect spot to get her homework done and she really wanted to pick up another book or two.

Later in the day had always been the best time to come when there wasn't any children's programs going on. Those tended to get pretty noisy especially when an overflow of thirty plus kids came rushing to the main area.

Ray was focused as she got started on her work. Pleased with herself for finishing her school work early, she had decided to treat herself to a selection of books, reading the first chapter of each until she found one that pulled her from reality almost immediately.

" _The time is now 8:00 and the library is closed. We will reopen at 10:00 tomorrow…."_

Oops she hadn't realized the time. Thankfully the librarians were always so kind and she was still able to check out her selection.

Sunlight had almost completely vanished being replaced by the yellow glow of street lamps. The quickest way home was to take a shortcut through the back alleys. She knew they could be dangerous but she'd cut through so many times over the past week without incident that she no longer worried.

Getting catcalled from intoxicated patrons by what she assumed was a strip club was an aggravating and frequent occurrence. They usually left her alone if she kept walking without a response. Usually….until tonight when they didn't.

"Hey there little miss." his slightly slurred speech sent shivers up her spine.

Sticking to her usual plan for this situation she ignored him expecting he would take the hint and back off. Ray just kept walking. Her heart rate increasing as she notices there was definitely a pair of footsteps closing in behind her. This man had no intention of backing off or leaving her alone.

"Where ya goin'? It's gettin' late a perdy lil thing like you shouldn't be alone.." he was almost side by side with her.

"HEY! Quit ignoring me you bitch!" a grubby hand harshly grabbed her shoulder forcing her to meet his grisly face.

Harsh wrinkles indicated this pervert was probably old enough to be her grandfather. Instinctively the petite blonde slapped his hand away taking his surprise as an opportunity to dash off into the alleyway towards home.

 _OW!_

Just her luck. Her foot had caught on her undone shoelace causing her to twist her ankle as she tripped. She wouldn't be able to run fast enough now with pain shooting up her leg each time her foot kissed the concrete. Rachel hoped she had gained enough distance.

She hadn't. The man still had enough in him despite being drunk to catch up and corner her against a dumpster.

"Leave me alone." her cold stare was met with a harsh slap across the cheek. The pressure forcing her to the cold concrete.

"Shut up ya lil bitch… I'll put ya in yer place." a disgusting smirk painted his face. Dull grey eyes staring her body down telling her exactly what he meant by that statement.

Rachel admittedly did not fear death, but she did fear being defiled or beaten. Her heart was ringing in her chest. His foul breath closed in on her. The woman protectively hugged herself clenching her blue eyes shut. Waiting for her fate to befall her. Yet instead something warm splashed onto her body followed by a gurgling sound and a maniacal laugh.

"HYAHAHAHAHA!"

Cautiously Ray opened one eye still hugging her body tightly. Her would have been rapist was staring straight at her. An expression of shock and horror frozen on his face. But most notable was the large blade impaling his chest. The warm splash covering her was blood…

One swift movement and the man handling the blade( a scythe to be exact) slung the corpse against an adjacent wall with ease. Rachel couldn't help but flinch a little at the sound of cracking bones. She should be even more terrified right about now yet she seemed to feel a tad bit of relief.

"Looks like I found ya in quite the predicament there!" the gruff voice belonged to a tall man wearing a hoodie and crimson trousers.

It was too dark to make out any features especially with his hood. Though he appeared to be covered in bandages. The man flicked his weapon clean before returning his attention back to the small woman on the ground before him.

Rachel remained silent even when he leaned forward with a devilish grin that made her hair stand on end. Her cerulean orbs meeting the one she could make out in the darkness. A pretty amber behind a reddish gleam. He held up three fingers inches from her nose.

"Now I'll give ya to the count of three...if ya wanna live then ya better start runnin! Oh! And I want you to cry and scream with every step!"

But Rachel couldn't run. Her foot was injured. Even if it wasn't what was the point? Not like she'd get very far anyways… cry? Scream? She couldn't even seem to do that. Her heart was still pounding yet she was froze in place. A single destructive thought entered her mind.

 _Would it really be so bad to die? If I died...then all this emptiness would be erased...everything would be erased...that doesn't sound so bad…being murdered wasn't a sin._

She would not run. She would not cry or scream. Her resolve set the blonde clasped her hands as if to pray and bowed her head. She was willing accept this man's blade taking her life. The seconds that passed felt like minutes but the blow never came.

"Th' fuck are ya doin'?" he sounded irritated.

Ray looked up into his confused face.

"What am I doing?" she asked cocking her head to the side.

" Why aren't ya runnin? And the hell is that boring ass face? You look like a dead doll."

"My foot is injured so I can't runaway. And even if I did you would catch me…".she paused pondering his last statement. "Also...I cant look like a dead doll...dolls were never alive to begin with."

"Tch! Ya think I don't know that?!" he got close to her face again.

Irritation was replaced by eagerness as if he got a thought that pleased him.

"C'mon! Ya can at least make a better face for me! I saw it when that creep was about to have his way with ya! Cry! Scream! Beg for your life!"

The small blonde blinked at the man. Her eyes dead as ever. He wasn't pleased.

"Th' fuck?! Tch! Your face is so damn boring!"

"I'm sorry…I don't know what I can do about that."

A frustrated growl bled from the killers throat. What was wrong with this chick? She looked scared only moments ago.

"Yer face was perfect for worm food over there! Ya sayin' you were afraid of him but not me?"

"Are you going to rape me?" she would be scared If this man had similar intentions to the drunk. From the look of shock and utter disgust she could tell that he did not.

"WHAT THE HELL?! Don't lump me in the same category as that sicko! I ain't that low!"

"Then no...I'm not scared...if your planning to hurt me in that way I would be but your not." she stated matter of factly as if it should've been obvious

The man stood back up tugging his hood down his face clearly disturbed by the young woman beneath his towering form.

"Ugh! Your so boring! Listen I'm not into slicing up emotionless dolls." grumbling irritably at the situation the killer decided to move on and find a prey that would provide more amusement. A surprised voice stopped him momentarily.

"Your not going to kill me then?" Rachel's dead eyes stared at the back of his head.

"I told ya! I don't kill dolls! I'm a respectable adult!" he didn't even turn to look at her and kept walking into the darkness.

Ray blinked a few times very confused by what transpired. She almost might think she'd hallucinated the whole thing had she not carried the evidence on her clothes. Thank goodness she had chosen to wear black or it might be troublesome if someone saw her on her way back. Overall she wasn't sure what to feel. In a way she felt relief but also disappointed.

Taking a moment to gather herself the small blonde carefully stood up trying to keep as much weight as possible off her rolled ankle. It wasn't broken or sprained but was definitely going to need some ice. Just a little further till home.

Isaac Foster or Zack as he preferred to be called rinsed the crimson liquid from his body. His last two kills had been messy. Very messy...he couldn't help it. That brat had grated his nerves. As a result he had taken his frustration out on a middle aged couple who looked way too damn happy.

He grinned just a little at the way they begged and screamed the male victim trying desperately to protect his lover. The look of despair on her face when he had failed.

It had almost been enough to cull his frustration. Almost. He couldn't seem to get those dull blue eyes out of his head.

 _What was her problem? Did the brat wanna die?_

He probably should have just killed her. She might rat him out...though somehow he had a feeling she wouldn't. There would've been no satisfaction in ending her life. Too boring he'd have felt real shitty.

 _Tch…_

His annoyance rose as he wondered if she had played him for a fool. A human would have to be all kinds of fucked up to be alright with being killed by a monster.

Stepping out of the shower Isaac sighed at his disfigured burnt body reflecting back at him. The physical proof of what he was. Rewrapping himself he wondered if he might see that girl again. She'd looked like a college student. He knew there a school not far from here.

If he ever did see her again…

 _If that bitch lied to me…_

He reimagined her face as it was before filled with despair…just the thought made him cackle with glee.

 _I'll fuckin kill her!_

 _Schlunk...schlunk...schlunk...schlunk_

 _A hand with porcelain skin reaches out for the door knob…_

The clock read 2:17AM on Saturday morning and Ray's nerves were on end. Thank goodness her boss had decided to let her have an extra day off for the first week of school.

The young woman stripped down; a shaky hand adjusted the water temperature in the shower to her liking. Her lack of sleep was really beginning to show. Dark circles lined the bottom of her vacant stare. The nightmares had been every night since that night in the alleyway. Yet it wasn't the prospect of getting killed that ate at her it was the thought of that man's hands on her. She scrubbed vigorously as if trying to scrub that feeling away. Even now she shook at the thought of what would have transpired had that killer not intervened.

The man continued to evade her thoughts as she dried off and slid on some black leggings and a blue shirt.

Something about him had been very alluring. His unique eye color had drawn her in even given the situation. Why hadn't he killed her? Just because she looked dead? Didn't he worry that she would call the authorities?(she hadn't…intentional or not be did save her.)

Making her way into the small kitchen after preheating the oven. Ray pulled out her beloved stand mixer. Baking had recently become a new outlet for the young woman. She wasn't going to be able to sleep tonight that much was certain.

As she stuck her 3 cake pans into the oven the opening and closing of a door could be heard. She wondered what kind of job her neighbor had that kept them out so late. It was past 3 now. Sliding the thought aside Rachel collected her homework and set out to the small bistro style table on her balcony. It was starting to get a little chilly but still felt nice.

A door swung open on the balcony next to hers. She could hear shuffling but couldn't see anyone as there was a partial wall which provided each resident with some privacy. Still curiosity had been peeked at the thought of finally seeing her mysterious neighbor.

 _CLANG!_

The loud noise followed by a low mumbling male voice startled her. Ray strode to the edge of the balcony which jutted out past the partition hoping to solve the mystery. Mustering up the courage she called to the man.

"Are you alright?"

The man uttered a surprised curse. He hadn't expected anyone to be around as he was accustomed to the building being fairly empty.

There was a momentary pause. The man poked his head around the corner to look at who had spoken to him.

"I'm fine- SHIT!" a yellow eye widened in recognition from under a brown hood.

The young woman's own eyes went round in surprise as well.

The man from the alleyway. Though his voice was different, a more normal tone instead of the blood crazed one she had heard before.

"Y-you?! Dead face girl?!" his tone was accusatory. What would he be accusing her of?

"...yep it's me." Her face settled back into her usual blank expression. Though his terminology did sting a little.

"I can see that idiot!" the man ruffled his black hair irritably.

"Are you going to kill me now?" Ray inquired.

"Ya gonna snitch on me?...if ya haven't already…" he answered her with a question of his own. Her blue eyes met his.

"I haven't...and no I'm not going to snitch on you." the woman shook her head her blonde locks swaying a little in the light breeze.

The man looked a tad relieved. Then confused.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why aren't ya gonna sell me out?" what a strange girl this was.

She shrugged her small shoulders.

"You saved me from being raped… consider it my thank you…"

The man opened his mouth to make a retort but seemed to have lost his train of thought. A delicious aroma entered his nostrils causing his mouth to salivate.

"Damn smells good!" he sniffed the air realizing the source was from this weird girls apartment.

He turned his attention back to the blonde. He was surprised to catch a slight smile and more surprised that it didn't seem to piss him off… probably because her eyes were still dead.

"It's a chocolate cake. I couldn't sleep so I decided to make one." she seemed a tad proud of herself.

The killer was indeed impressed by this piece of information given he had zero culinary abilities. Though there was a reason for that and a damn good one if you asked him. Shits dangerous.

"Yer makin' one?!" The man looked almost boyish with his level of excitement. To say he had bit of a sweet tooth would be an understatement.

"I bake quite often...it still needs to cool. But if you'd like some-" before she could finish her sentence or react he had leapt across landing with ease onto her balcony.

"You could've just used the front door…" Rachel blinked, impressed by his athleticism.

"Shut up. Same result."

She could make out his features now that there was more light.

Messy black hair and what she hadn't noticed before was his strange eyes. There was the pretty amber one but the other was darker. As she thought every part not hidden by his baggy clothing was clad in bandages. However judging from the visible skin around his eyes she could see his skin was a few shades darker than her own.

" Are you hurt?" She motioned to his wrapped figure and the fresh blood stain at the rim of his hoodie...though she was sure that it wasn't his blood.

"Hah? Nah this is from something that happened to me a long time ago."

"I see...well. If possible could you try to not leave any blood stains?" Her furniture was light colored, removing the stain would be very difficult.

"Ah shit...gimme a second I"ll change." His being considerate was rather surprising. The man was about to leap across the balcony again pausing for a moment to turn and look at the small woman behind him. "Hey...what's yet name anyway?"

Ah that's right they still hadn't even shared their identities with one another.

"Rachel Gardner." she replied simply standing by the door.

The killer turned to face her a little more to her surprise he even smiled a little. "And I'm Zack! Nice to meet ya!"

Zack turned and leapt across to his own balcony. His finesse was truly impressive.

What a weird situation. Only days before this man had threatened to kill her and now they were about to share the cake she was making. Weird indeed. Yet it made her smile though she didn't know why. Smiles weren't an easy thing to extract from Rachel.

Ray was pulling the cakes from the freezer and beginning to frost them by time the man called Zack returned. He had knocked on the front door this time.

"Damn looks good." Zacks amber eye gleamed taking in the decadent 3 layer cake.

He was adorned in fresh wrappings, a red hoodie and some black jeans. Ray concluded that Zack must've taken a shower given how long he had taken and his damp hair. Even from where she stood she could smell his masculine scented body wash.

"I work at a cafe, so I picked up a few things."

Ray smiled as she dipped them each up a slice. The pair seated themselves at the table. A thought triggered in her mind as she recalled a newspaper she had been reading the other day. An article about an alleged psycho killer on the loose. The killer was said to kill indiscriminately and with no apparent motive.

"So I'm guessing the reason I would always hear your door slam so late is because you were killing someone?" her casualness startled the dark haired man. She'd just asked him about his dark nightly activities the same way you'd ask someone if they wanted butter on their toast.

 _COUGH COUGH_

The man pounded his chest to alleviate his choking. She assumed the answer was yes.

"Th' fuck? How can you be so disturbing?!" He stared at her as if she had grown horns on her head.

Personally Ray didn't really see what was so disturbing about it. She just shrugged taking another bit of cake.

Such a weird girl. Though maybe she wasn't so bad. She said she wouldn't rat him out and even invited him for some cake. Which tasted fucking amazing. Those eyes though...so dead...even more so than the last time he'd seen her. A bluish tone hugged the bottom of her eyes.

"So what why were ya up so late? Ya look like you haven' slept much" he wasn't really sure why he cared to ask.

She looked surprised by his question. Ray readjusted her eyes that had been staring aimlessly at the wall back to the man sitting across from her.

"I uhh…" Ray didn't really feel comfortable talking about her nightmares. They were something she hadn't told anyone about. It was her burden to live with and hers alone.

"What? Spit it out!" Her hesitation annoyed Zack.

Ray averted her eyes. "No reason really…"

Obviously that was a lie and he had picked up on it too. Mismatched orbs were staring daggers into her. The atmosphere drastically changed. A bandaged hand shot out grasping the front of her shirt. Isaac yanked her up so they were so close in proximity that their noses almost touched.

Ray wouldn't even look at him. She could feel the intensity of his stare and it was just too much. She swallowed hard unsure what to make of his violent reaction.

"Look at me…" he demanded. The blonde obeyed and turned her head back towards him the warmth of his breath on her face.

"Since that was obviously a load of bullshit, I'm gonna tell ya this only once. I. HATE. LIARS!"

He released the fabric with a huff her letting her fall back into her chair. If he had managed to scare her at all it barely showed. Just that same boring ass doll face. However she understood. No lying.

"I...I understand…"

"Good girl. Now that ya got that through yer head…why ya up so late?" why did he want to know? He hadn't a clue. Maybe it was the slight reaction he saw when he asked the first time. A small show of emotion. Not the kind he wanted to cut down… but it was something. It made him a little curious.

"Well...I have nightmares...almost every night." as he thought her expression shifted ever so slightly. She looked…sad?

"Nightmares huh? That so?" now that was something he could relate to. Given the haunted look in her eyes...he wondered if maybe she had a heavy past like he did. So if she had lied it was probably either embarrassing or something she wasn't comfortable talking about. Isaac wasn't usually one to pry… unless he smelled a lie that is.

The blonde woman nodded staring at her now empty plate. Ray glanced at the clock wondering what time it was...must've been pretty late...or early depending on your point of view. 5:16 AM…

Zack followed her gaze to the stove timer.

"Ah. Yer probably tired. Could use some sleep myself" the man stood up and stretched his long torso. Eyeing the cake before commenting, "Was some damn good shit though! Guess I really will hav'ta keep ya alive when ya can cook like that!"

His comment was rewarded again by that small lifeless smile. What a lame smile. It was irritating...mostly because it didn't make him want to slice the girl open. Maybe some other reason...he just didn't know what that reason might be.

"Well theres plenty of it. I can give you half to take back to your place." His compliment had pleased her. Probably because she rarely ever got them. It felt nice, she didn't usually feel that.

Zacks eyes lit up at her offer "Ya sure bout that?"

"Yeah, I can't eat all of this anyway."

"Hell yeaaaaah!"

Ray's mind was swimming. She was so zoned out at work that she had overfilled a cup of coffee. The burning liquid spilling over her hand jolted the young woman to her senses. Reactively dropping the cup.

"Ah!" a petite woman stared at her hand that had already turned an angry red.

"Careful!" her coworker a short redhead grasped her shoulder. "Geez girl! You okay?"

Despite Rachel nodding to assure her she would be fine...really she would she'd had so much worse. Lindsey was adamant she go tell the morning manager and take care of the wound.

The manager had tried to talk her into going home once the wound had been tended to and she filled out the incident report. But she really needed the money…

Admittedly the burn was pretty bad and would be looking pretty nasty by the end of the day. She had plenty of medical supplies at home fortunately. Ray had quite a habit of stockpiling first aid items.

Rachel learned basic medical skills from all her time reading books. Back when she was with her parents she never knew when she might need to treat a bruise or maybe a burn from having her hand placed on the stove. She'd even had to give herself stitches a few times.

Her hand had blistered up pretty badly by the following morning. After applying some aloe vera and bandaging herself up she made her daily preparations. Dressed and ready to go Ray was on her way out about to lock the door when she bumped into someone.

"Fuck!" Zack stumbled at the impact. Then noticed the familiar small woman rubbing at her nose. "Ya need ta be more careful Ray."

The blondes heart leapt a little at her new nickname. She kind of liked it.

"S-sorry…" Rachel turned to resume locking her door.

"Tch. It's fine … hey what'd ya do to yer hand?"

Ray clutched at her wrist instinctively. "I got burned at work yesterday."

Zack flinched a little shrugging his bag further up his shoulder. He knew that pain all too well.

"Sucks…"

"Yeah…" Ray cocked her head noticing the book bag slung his person. Zack must've noticed her observation. He shifted awkwardly.

"What? It's just a bag." the man ruffled his black hair.

"Zack do you go to school?" Ray questioned. After all it was pretty early in the day given his usual routine.

"So what if I do?!" he snapped as the pair began to walk together.

"Just wouldn't think school would be your thing...given your interests…" Ray shrugged.

She wasn't wrong. It's not like he wanted to go.

"Tch. The guy who lets me live here, told me I had to go if I wanted to keep my place...don't really have a choice. Gotta take at least one class per semester.. " Zack scratched the back of his head.

Recalling how pissed off he got at that conversation. Damn that old man. He was tempted to say fuck it and take his chances. He used to live on the streets before and he could do it again. However it was nice to not have to dig through the garbage for food not to mention the amenities.

"I see."

Ah so that's how he was able to have a apartment. Was hard to imagine someone like him having a day job. The fact that he was going to school though... _her_ school was just crazy.

Ray noticed the man fidgeting as they passed people on the street. Every now and then cursing under his breath. She supposed he probably didn't like be around so many people. She didn't either but not to the point of irritation.

"Are you okay?" Her soft voice snapped him from the sinister thoughts swarming through his head. Zack looked down at her through the corner of his eye.

"Can't stand smiles...it's what drives me to do what I do…" Kill. It took always took a lot of effort for him to go out in public and restrain himself.

"Oh. You didn't seem to want to kill me when I smiled." though her smiles were pretty weak. Maybe if she had smiled back then when they first met he would have killed her.

"Cause your eyes are dead…"

"Oh...well if it helps you can just look at me instead. Since I'm too boring..." Ray suggested noticing suppressed tremors radiating from his bandaged hands.

Zack eyed the girl a moment.

"Yer really weird." Wasn't a bad idea though to be honest. It did help to quell his urges. But it would be really fucking weird to just stand there staring at her.

"Ah shit." Zack fumbled through his pockets to pull out a piece of paper. They had arrived on campus. "Dunno where th'fuck to go…"

"Let me see."

He handed her the paper as she reached out a hand. As he said it was just one class on the paper...and that class was... Ray blinked; surprise written all over her face. Zack lowered to her level to look at the paper.

"There something weird on there?"

Ray handed the sheet back to him, suddenly feeling a tad jittery.

"N-no." she gulped.

"Well then? What's the problem?" Zack stood up straight while keeping his eyes on Ray.

Rachel looked up at the man. "We have the same class."

"Hah?! No way!" Well this was awkward.

Though honestly maybe it was luck. He wasn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. A fact he was well aware of. It had been an extremely grueling task for Zack to acquire his GED last summer. The old man was adamant though.

Rachel was just as surprised as he was. This would be an interesting semester. Very interesting...

"Yep…."

"Well shit…"


	2. Chapter 2

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p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" story/story_edit_ ?storyid=13235478/p 


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